A Change in the Tide
by siriusblack2236
Summary: AU- James and Lily grew up together until they were separated. Nine years later, they are reunited, but Lily has no recollection of her childhood and James is now a pirate.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

A Change in the Tide

Prologue

Two young kids, a boy and a girl, were running along a street, glancing behind them as they ran to make sure no one was following them. The boy pulled the girl into an empty alley.

The boy noticed the girl crying as he looked into the redhead's beautiful green eyes. "Don't cry, Lily," the boy whispered soothingly as he rubbed the girl's back. His hazel eyes were watery but he fought back the tears. "Everything is going to be okay."

The eleven year old girl looked up at her friend. He had messy black hair and was rather scrawny. "It is not going to be okay." The girl began to cry harder. "I'll never see you again, James. I can't do it. I'm not going with them."

"Lily, you have to. Their going to take great care of you. They seem really nice."

"I want to stay with you, James, and the rest of the kids at the orphanage. This couple that is adopting me will probably never let me see you guys again."

"That's not true, Lily. You don't know that."

The two kids sat together on the floor of the damp and dark, paved alley. They huddled together and silent tears ran down both of their eyes. They knew that there was absolutely nothing they could do to prevent Lily from going away. They were young kids after all.

Suddenly, Lily shifted out of James' hug and looked into his deep, hazel eyes. "James, let's go away. We already made it out of the grounds. We can live together in the streets, like this here alley."

"Lily, that's impossible. Stop thinking that," James interrupted her.

"No James. I'm not leaving you." Lily grabbed his hand, desperately trying to convince him of her plans. "We'll be fine and I won't be adopted. Please James… please," Lily cried hysterically.

James, who was older than Lily by one year, always tried to watch over her, like she was his little sister. They both grew up together in an orphanage in London. Both Lily's parents and James' had died when they were only toddlers. The two kids had played together and hung out together since. They were inseparable.

"Lily," James gently whispered, "you know we can't do that. We could die. Besides, we would have to steal our food and live the rest of our lives as thieves. And what would happen if the police found us? Huh? It would never work. I don't want to see you hurt, Lily."

"Oh James," Lily sobbed. "You're my best friend. I don't want to lose you," the young redhead said. Knowing she was fighting a losing battle, she gave up and just cried on James' shoulder.

Suddenly, Lily and James perked up when they heard voices walking down the deserted alley. Frightened, the two children huddled closer together and tried to blend in with the wall.

When James looked up, he saw two men, both dressed raggedly and covered in dirt, walking towards the end of the alley where he and Lily were. They were talking when the two men noticed the scared little kids crouched against the wall on the floor.

Now that Lily could get a better look at the men, she saw that they both had dark hair and tan skin. One was tall and thin while the other one was slightly shorter and had a beard. The taller one kneeled so that he was level with the two kids. James' arms tightened around Lily. He was so scared and shocked. It was too late to get up and run. They were cornered.

"Now what's wrong? Are you scared of us?" The man sniggered as he looked back at his friend and smirked.

"Leave us alone," James bravely spoke up.

"Well, I happen to like it here. I don't want to leave," said the man, stubbornly.

"Leave now!" James screamed as he stood up. The men were much bigger than him. As he noticed this, he began to inch back cowardly.

"What are you going to do about it?" the second man asked as the two older men began to gang up on James.

"I… I'll fight you." James held up his fists, threateningly.

The men laughed at this as Lily spoke up softly. "James, please don't." James could hear the worry in her voice. She looked as scared as he felt inside. He turned away from her and faced the men in front of him.

"Why don't you go home to your mommy and daddy, kid?" the bearded man directed at James.

James looked down and said that he didn't have any parents.

The two men shared a look. Then, suddenly, they roughly grabbed James and were trying to tie him up with ropes. James struggled back hopelessly.

"Stop!" Lily ran over to the men and began weakly hitting them, trying to keep them off her best friend. "What are you doing? Stop it! Leave him alone," Lily cried.

Lily was in tears as she saw them capture James. She tried as hard as she could to stop the men but it was no use. She was only wasting her strength. She would not give up though.

"Cut it out girl," one of the men roared at her. When she didn't stop, he roughly pushed her down where she hit her head hard against the pavement and blacked out.

James' eyes widened as he saw how the man hit Lily. He began to cry and fight back even harder but the men eventually had him tied. They slugged him carelessly over their shoulders as though he was a package and walked out of the alley leaving the young unconscious girl behind.

**A/N: Let me know what you think of this story. I have had this story in my head for awhile. I just haven't had a chance to write it. I hope to update the next chapter soon but there are no guarantees. Review**


	2. Lily's New Life

_Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and therefore am not the owner of Harry Potter_

A Change in the Tide

Chapter 2: Lily's New Life

It had been nine years since Lily had been adopted by the Evans family. She lived with her parents and older sister Petunia.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans were very kind and loved Lily like she was their own flesh and blood. They had raised her to act like a young lady and taught her manners. They sent her to school where she learned a proper education. Lily had never felt so happy and loved in all of her life.

Petunia was another story. She and Lily had never really gotten along as Petunia was always jealous of Lily and had reason to be. Lily was now twenty years old and had grown into a beautiful young woman. Her gorgeous red locks now reached lower down on her back. She had grown a few inches since she was eleven and now had a nice, curvy figure. She was one of the most sought after women in England. Several men had already asked for her hand in marriage, but Lily turned them down claiming she was much too young. Petunia, on the other hand, was twenty-two and had yet to be proposed to. She certainly wasn't ugly, but she was out shined by her sister and no one really noticed her. Petunia had long blonde hair that laid straight down her back. She had pale blue eyes and a long neck. She was a little taller than Lily and was very thin.

Not only was Lily considered good looking, but people believed the young girl was a sweetheart. Lily was nice to everyone. Petunia pretended to be nice to others, but she could be mean at times, especially when around Lily. Lily knew of her sister's jealousy, but there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. Lily wasn't going to change who she was to make Petunia look better.

Lily Evans walked out of her cabin on her father's ship and headed towards the railings. She leaned over and looked out at the beautiful ocean surrounding her. They had been sailing for two days now and were heading towards Northern England where a rich lord named Vernon Dursley was looking for a bride. Petunia was interested in him. Lily hoped that Lord Dursley liked Petunia. It would make her older sister so happy if he asked her to be his wife. Lily loved her sister despite everything and wanted Petunia to live a happy life.

Just then, Lily was tapped on the shoulder. She turned around to see her maid, Elizabeth. "Miss, your father wants you to get ready. He says that we will be arriving later on today."

Lily walked back to her cabin to get ready. When her maid was done helping her get dressed, her father walked into the room.

He was an older man around fifty. He had blue eyes and light brown hair. He was tall and thin and walked with a certain confidence. He looked at his youngest daughter and began to speak. "You look lovely, dear." Lily blushed at the compliment, flattered. "That dress is absolutely gorgeous."

"I'm glad you think so, father. Thank you for buying it for me."

Then two started a conversation by talking about the random things in their lives. They had done this everyday for as long as Lily could remember. Their relationship had always been like that. The two were so close, they could share anything with the other.

Mr. Evans always wanted to check up on Lily. He thought that she was rather fragile after the incident in the orphanage. A young man had found Lily lying on the ground in an alley. Her head was bleeding terribly. He immediately brought her to the hospital and the orphanage was notified. Mr. Evans had been informed of Lily's condition as soon as possible. He and his wife had rushed to see her. They were so happy to know that she was alive.

When Lily was conscious again, she stared at the two adults. Mr. Evans remembered her stare. It was blank and filled with no emotion. She seemed slightly scared to see them. It took them a few minutes until they figured out something was wrong with her. She couldn't remember them. He and his wife had visited her only a few days previous at the orphanage. That was when he told her that they were going to adopt her. How could she forget that? The doctors checked her out and concluded that she had lost her memory. When they tried to question her about how she ended up in the alley, she said that she didn't know. The first thing she remembered was waking up in the hospital. The doctors suggested that she spend a few days in the orphanage. They hoped that if she was with familiar people and things, it might trigger something in her memory. After a few weeks, Lily's memory did not come back and that was when she moved in with the Evans's. It had been years and Lily still could not remember anything from her childhood.

Just as Mr. Evans was going to ask her if she got her memory back like he asked every other day, there was a yell heard in the distance. Mr. Evans went out to the main deck.

"There's a ship out in the distance. It's coming towards us," said the man in the crow's-nest. "I think it's a… a pirate ship!"

That created such mayhem. Everyone on the ship was scurrying around, preparing themselves for an attack.

Mr. Evans grabbed his sword and gun and told his men to ready the canons. After he shouted his instructions, he turned to Lily. "Lily, you must hide. Do not come out no matter what, okay? Stay hidden and do whatever it takes to protect yourself." Lily had tears in her eyes as she nodded and headed below deck to hide.

Mr. Evans searched for his wife and other daughter and told them the same thing he told Lily. Then he turned around and braced himself for the attack.

**A/N: So there is chapter 2. Chapter 3 will be about James. I know that this chapter and the last one have been kind of short. The next one might be too. But after that, they will start to get longer and there will be more action.**

**Let me know what you think of the story. Don't forget to review.**


	3. James' New Life

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter although most of the plot is mine_

A Change in the Tide

Chapter 3: James' New Life

Captain Potter looked over the edge of his ship called _The Phoenix _and saw clear blue water all around him. He had been living on this ship for nine years now, since he was twelve. The two men that had kidnapped him, he later learned were named Bill and Hyde, were pirates. They brought him to this ship and showed him to the captain. The captain at the time was a man named Harold Clark. He was kind of old when James met him, in his late sixties, but he did not act his age. He was a loud, active man with a lot of energy. He was very happy when he met James. He had always wanted a son and the James came along. It was perfect. They took an instant liking to each other. James considered Captain Clark as a father to him. The captain taught James a lot and watched over him like he was his son. James was taught the ways of a pirate by him; how to fight, how to steer a ship, how to read a map, how to find and burry treasure and much more.

Unfortunately, two years ago, old Captain Clark passed away from a heart attack. A week before the captain died, he had a long talk with James. He told James that he hadn't been feeling well and didn't think that he would live much longer. He told James that if he died, James would take over his position as captain of _The Phoenix._

James has been captain now for two years. Not much has changed since he came into command except that a few younger men have joined the crew. Some of them include James' current best friend and first mate, Sirius Black. Sirius is a very handsome man, with dark brown hair and stormy gray eyes. He joined _The Phoenix_ after running away from his family. He had had a troubled childhood that he wanted to get away from. He was instantly welcomed aboard. Sirius and James were around the same age and quickly became best friends.

Captain Potter has two other good friends named Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Remus has sandy blonde hair and a tall frame. He joined James' crew because he wanted to sail. Peter is slightly shorter than the other men and has brown eyes and dirty blonde hair. He, like James was an orphan, and decided to become a pirate.

James himself had changed after he became a pirate. Through all of his training, he now had well defined muscles and a sharp mind. He was a very good looking man as well. He had raven black hair that was extremely messy, a tall, lean figure, and a nice tan from the sun. He was a kind man and a good leader but when he was angry, he could be very dangerous.

As James was staring out in the distance, he thought about his old life when he was an orphan. It had been nine years and with each passing day, he remembered less and less of his old life. Although he misses his childhood, he does not regret that he became a pirate. He still is mad at the two men who took him away from his old life, Bill and Hyde, but his new life on this ship has been wonderful. It has been a nice change for him. He just wonders where Lily is right now and if she is alright.

Lily. He misses her terribly and wishes that he could see her again. She was his best friend for the longest time. He wonders how her life is right now and what happened to her after he was kidnapped. James wants to know if she misses him as much as he misses her.

James had checked every newspaper he could find for information on Lily when he first became a pirate. There were a few articles that talked about a missing male orphan, but none of them mentioned a young girl. He figured that someone obviously found her because there weren't any ads saying that she was missing. James just wishes he could see her again.

"Captain, there is a British ship in the distance," Peter yelled. James was shaken out of his thoughts and looked out in the distance. His eyes focused on a small dot that was obviously a ship.

After some quick thinking, James came up with a plan. "Full speed ahead. We are raiding the ship," James commanded. That was how his life was as a pirate. They stole goods from wealthy ships and brought them onto their own ship. They would leave all of the people on the ship alive, just without their wealth. After the attack, they would leave and spend all of the money on goods and rum.

After James' orders, everyone on the ship got into position, readying the ship for boarding. The crew also took out their swords and guns.

James watched as his crew followed his orders and then called for Sirius, Remus and Peter. "You know the deal, take all of the gold and valuable goods you can find. Bring them back on this ship. Don't kill anyone. If someone gets in your way, bring them to me. I'll deal with them. Savvy?"

"Aye," they chorused.

"Tell the others. I will be busy talking with the captain of the other ship once we board."

James' faithful friends nodded and turned to instruct the rest of the crew.

Finally, _The Phoenix_ was within boarding distance. Captain Potter gave the orders and shouted, "Attack!"

**A/N: Sorry if there are a couple of errors. I edited this chapter so many times that I think some of the words might have got mixed up and stuff. I know that this chapter is short but there wasn't much I could add to it. The next chapter will be longer and more exciting. It will be about the attack. Tell me what you think of this story. I really want to know your opinion. Review.**

**Also, I may not update the next chapter until next weekend. I don't have much free time during the weekdays with school and homework and stuff but every weekend I will try to write about two chapters.**


	4. Attack

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

A Change in the Tide

Chapter 4: Attack

Shouts were heard from both ships signifying the beginning of an attack. Canons were fired by the British, but that didn't convince the pirates of leaving. They boarded the Evans' ship and then fighting began. There were slashes of swords but no guns were fired as the men raced to face their opponent.

The pirates outnumbered the British men and in a few minutes, most of the men had been tied up and thrown in a corner of the deck.

Captain Potter walked confidently around the upper deck, admiring his men's work. The attack was short and easy. Now the man looked around in search of the captain.

Lord Evans knew as soon as the pirates boarded his ship that they were doomed. His men were greatly outnumbered. He just hoped that none of his men are killed and that his wife and daughters are safe.

When the fighting was over, the pirate asked the bound men who the captain is.

"I am the head of this ship," said a loud voice.

James Potter turned around to find himself face to face with an older man. "What is your name?" James asked.

"I am Lord Evans. I assume you are the captain of that ship," Lord Evans said, pointing at _The Phoenix._

"You guessed correctly. I am Captain Potter, captain of _The Phoenix_." After a pause, he turned to his men and signaled for them to gather around. They tied up Lord Evans and tossed him with the rest of his men. "Don't worry. Our intentions are not to kill you, but if any of you try to fight us back, well… we might not be so merciful." James went on to address his men. "Remember what I said, take all of the gold and jewels you can and bring 'em back on the ship. Go on now," James barked. His men turned and searched the ship.

Now, Lord Evans was extremely nervous for his family. He knew they were hiding somewhere in the lower decks and that there was a good chance they would be found by these filthy pirates. His biggest concern wasn't that they would be killed, the pirates said they had no intentions of killing. No, he was afraid that the pirates might abuse his wife and daughters, or capture them.

Captain Potter's crew searched the ship for any valuables. In the captain's quarters, they found important documents, several gold coins, some maps, books, jewelry, and dresses of sorts. Throughout the rest of the ship, they found guns, swords, gun powder, canons, and more.

Lord Evans watched as his possessions were taken from his ship and loaded onto _The Phoenix._ He didn't care so much about losing his wealth though.

Captain Potter kept watch of the captured men and supervised his own men's work. Every now and then, his men would bring someone up to him that had been hiding on the lower levels. He had those people tied up and grouped with the rest of Lord Evans' men.

Lily was hiding in the kitchen. She hoped that the pirates wouldn't think to look in there. She was small enough to crouch into one of the cabinets. As she waited, she heard the canons being fired, but after a few minutes they stopped. Then she heard the clanks of people landing on the upper deck. She knew that the pirates had boarded their ship. Several minutes later, there were voices and footsteps heard, walking through the lower decks. As she did not recognize them, she knew they were pirates. She only hoped that her father and the rest of the shipmates were okay.

She heard footsteps walk closer. There were two sets of footsteps in fact. They were heading towards the kitchen. Fear leaked through her veins as she barely breathed, afraid that someone would hear her. Then, the door creaked open.

Sirius and Remus were walking through the ship. They, along with the rest of the crew, were searching for anything interesting. "Hey, what's that," Sirius asked as he pointed to the door on their right.

"I believe that is the kitchen," Remus answered as he peered through the window.

"You think anything good will be in there?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know. Guess we'll have to see, won't we?" Remus said as he opened the door.

The two men looked around the kitchen but didn't find anything worth bringing to the captain. There was nothing unusual in there; just the typical pots, pans, and food.

From Lily' hiding place, she heard the two men enter the kitchen and search the room. They had checked every cabinet other than hers so far. She knew they were heading towards hers next. Just as she thought they would find her, she heard one of the men speak.

"I think that's all we are going to find in here. We checked every drawer, closet, and cabinet and didn't find anything."

"You're right, Sirius. Let's go."

Lily let out the breath she was holding and relaxed a little. Just as she thought everything was fine, the second man spoke again.

"Wait, I think we missed one."

'_Damn!' _Lily thought_. 'I'm trapped. There is no way out of this. I just hope all of the rumors I heard about pirates were false.'_

As Lily's thoughts were running wild, the two pirates strode over to the cabinet they had not already checked. When they opened it up, they were both filled with shock and jumped back a few feet.

Lily took that as her opportunity to escape. She crawled out of her cramped hiding place and darted out of the room. Just as she was heading out the door, she felt someone's hand on her arm. She was forcefully turned around. In front of her was a young man with long dark hair and gray eyes. The other man had blonde hair and blue eyes, she noted.

After Sirius grabbed the girl, he stared at her. She was one of the most beautiful women he had ever met in his life. She had long red hair and bright green eyes. Not to mention her cute figure. He was soon shook out of his thoughts when Remus stepped over to help him with the girl.

Lily began to struggle, trying to wretch her arm free, but it was no use. The two fully grown pirates were much too strong for the small woman. She began to verbally attack them.

"Let me go."

"No," Sirius replied simply.

"Let me go right now or else… or else I'll tell my father."

Sirius laughed at the girl's weak attempt to dissuade him. "Really? And what might your father do to me?" Sirius played along. Remus stood, watching the two argue.

"He'll have you locked up," the woman said confidently.

"Is that the worst you can do?"

Lily thought for a moment. These pirates just would not let up.

When the girl did not answer, Sirius spoke up. "Now, what would you do if I told you that we have your father locked up? Eh?"

"What? I don't believe you."

"Do you really think that we would be able to roam around this ship if your father wasn't captured?"

Lily began to feel stupid and lost almost all hope of escaping.

"What's your name?" the young man who was holding her asked.

When Lily opted not to answer, he roughly shook her.

"Miss Evans," Lily growled.

"Well, Miss Evans," Remus spoke up, "we are taking you up to the captain."

They both grabbed a hold of her and brought her up the stairs to the main deck. Lily looked around her and saw several pirates guarding her father's men. They were all tied up, including her father. Lily also saw her mother and Petunia.

Lily looked at her father and found him staring into her eyes. His look told her not to do something stupid, otherwise she would regret it.

Then Lily was pulled to the front, and faced a man who had his back turned to them all. He was looking out at the setting sun.

"Captain, we found this here one hiding in the kitchen," said Sirius.

Lily watched as the captain turned around. Although she would rather not admit it, she found this young pirate captain extremely attractive.

James turned around to find a beautiful, young maiden being held back by Sirius and Remus. "Really?" Captain Potter asked as he looked down at the girl. "Hiding in the kitchen?"

Sirius nodded. "She gave us quite the bit of trouble."

"Feisty little one," James said looking at the redhead.

"Her name is Miss Evans. She, I believe, is the daughter of Lord Evans," Remus added.

"Is that so? Well, tie her up and lock her in her father's room. That is for her causing us so much trouble." James shrugged as he addressed his men.

Sirius and Remus followed the captains orders and tied the woman up then locked her in the room. Then the crew set back to work until they were sure the ship was clear of all valuables.

As James was helping load his ship with some of the last goods, he heard a young woman's voice in his ear.

"Put everything back where it belongs or I will kill you."

James stopped walking and barely flinched as he felt a cool knife at his neck. He swiftly grabbed the girl's hand that was holding the knife and pulled it away from his neck. Then turned himself around so that he was facing Miss Evans.

Lily was surprised that the man was able to flip their positions without getting cut. He now held the knife that was originally in her hand and was holding it threateningly at her.

James just stared at the daring young woman. Then he picked her up, threw her over his broad shoulders, and carried her onto his ship. He walked down to the lower levels of _The Phoenix_, and locked her up and one of the rooms. He had Peter stand guard.

**A/N: I surprised myself by being able to update sooner than I expected. I hope you all apreciate it. I made sure this chapter was longer. The next few chapters will be longer as well. The next one will explain why James brought Lily onto the ship. It will be about Lily's first day on a pirate ship. I hope to have it posted by Friday.**

**Let me know what you think of this chapter. I have been getting alot of reviews. Keep them coming.**


	5. New Prisoner

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

A Change in the Tide

Chapter 5: New Prisoner

After assigning Peter to guard Miss Evans, James stomped up the stairs and headed towards the other ship. James gripped hold of a rope. He gave it a tug to make sure it held his weight, then he jumped across to the other ship. Once he landed, he let go of the rope and searched the deck. When he found who he was looking for, he headed over to the man.

"Sirius, we are done here. Help me round up the men. We are leaving now."

Sirius nodded in response but began to speak. "What did you do with that girl? I saw you carry her over to our ship. I really don't think it's a good idea to have taken her."

"Now is not the time to discuss it and as Captain, I am in charge. You should not question my actions," Captain Potter said.

"Sorry, Captain," Sirius said as he turned to address the rest of the pirates. "Oy, we're done here. Load up the last treasures and then prepare _The Phoenix_ for sailing."

The men shouted in understanding and then continued their work.

Sirius walked towards James and looked at him, trying to read his friend. James just shook his head and walked away. He had told Sirius that they would talk about it later. He didn't want to talk about it right now because he needed to reason it out with himself first. As James walked, he began thinking. '_Why did I lock her up?… She did try to kill me. Normally I would have killed her right then and there. What made me lock her up in my ship instead? I guess I was just fascinated by how she managed to escape from the room I locked her in. Yeah that's it. I'll have to question her about that,' _James asked himself.

After the long day, the pirates gathered to eat their dinner. James had Sirius, Remus and Peter join him for a private dinner in the captain's quarters. James had assigned someone else to keep watch over their prisoner for Peter for the time being.

The first few minutes of their dinner had been very quiet as the hungry men were immersed in their food. Then, as their stomachs became more full, they started up a conversation. They reflected on their adventurous day. Then Sirius brought up what had been on his mind all day.

"Now James, tell us what you did with that girl."

"Wait, you mean the one I have been guarding?" Peter spoke up.

"James, please tell me you didn't lock her up on our ship." When James nodded, Sirius sputtered in disbelief. "Why? She was fine where she was."

"She tried to kill me. Somehow she managed to get out of the room I had originally locked her up in. Of course, she was no match for me and I quickly gained the upper hand in the situation. That was when I took her here and locked her up," James reasoned arrogantly.

"You could have just left her on her ship, Captain," Remus said.

"What is her father going to do when he finds out that his daughter is missing? Huh? Did you ever think of that. He is going to track us down and kill us so that he can get his daughter back. Lord Evans is rich. He will have the entire British Navy searching for his daughter."

James pondered over this and was now seriously regretting his decision to bring the girl over here. "Well, what's done is done. I suppose we will have to keep her here and try to sail as far away from here as possible," James said. The rest of the table continued eating in silence.

Lily looked around the room she was locked in. It was very small but it had a bed and a small bedside table. The girl had her wrists tied together in front of her so she was able to move them a little. She gathered her body up from the floor which she had just been thrown onto by the Captain. After Lily laid herself down on the bed, she tried to untie herself the same way she had done before. She found her hidden knife in her corset and cut the ropes with it. Then she headed over to the door, bracing herself for her escape. She used the thin knife to pick the lock and prepared to open the door when she heard someone speak.

"Here, Peter, I want you to stand guard of this girl here. Make sure she does not escape."

"Yes, sir," was the reply.

'_Oh crap,'_ Lily thought. _'Now I won't be able to escape. I will be a prisoner on this ship forever. Oh God!' _Lily panicked. _'What will happen to all of the people still on my father's ship? How will my father react when he finds out I am missing? What will happen to me on the this damn ship?'_

Lily was shaking with fear as tears leaked out of her eyes. She weighed her options but could not find any that resulted in her still living so she concluded that for the time being, she would just have to wait.

Slowly, the time passed by and she began to hear the scattered footsteps of men on deck. Her fears heightened when she looked out her very small window and saw that the ship she was on was now moving away from her father's ship.

Lily was in hysterics as she pounded her hands on her pillow. She was leaving her life behind; her family, friends, wealth, freedom. There was nothing for her here on the ship. It promised tons of work and a possible death.

Lily was interrupted by her thoughts when there was a knock on the door. She heard the door creak open. She rubbed her puffy eyes and looked up. In the doorway was a short young man with dirty blonde hair. She stared at him as he scuttled into her cabin, carrying a tray of food.

"That's weird. The door was unlocked," he muttered to himself. The man set the platter down on her small table and spoke to her. "Miss, you are to eat this." He motioned towards the plate of what looked to Lily to be goop. Disgusted, Lily coughed. "Eat," the man commanded and then he left.

Lily stared at the plate. '_They cannot expect me to eat that. I will get more sick from eating that then if I don't eat at all.'_

Lily picked up the spoon and smelt the stew. "Ewww." She held her nose as she swallowed. Lily had never tasted something so horrible in her life. She looked at the other stuff on her plate. There was a cup of water. She drank it. Then she saw a small piece of stale bread. She nibbled a bit on it. It tasted better than the soup and Lily was a little hungry.

As she finished eating, there was another knock on the door. This time, a man who Lily believed was the captain came in. He looked at her and then began to speak.

"Your name is Miss Evans, right?" He asked in a deep, anxious voice.

Lily nodded. "What is your name?"

James frowned a bit, seeing that she did not know he was captain. "I'm James Potter, captain of _The Phoenix_." The good looking young man looked around her room and saw her tray of food. "I see you didn't like the food much. No doubt in a few days time, you will be willing to eat just about anything." James shrugged and then continued. "You are very daring, trying to sneak up on me and kill me." Lily continued to remain silent. "Well, of course there are punishments for your action. You will have to work on this ship for the rest of your life and listen to everything that is asked of you. Do you understand?"

Lily turned her head around and began to cry as she listened to his harsh words. "And, you will address me as Captain. One last thing before you go, I order you to tell me how you managed to escape."

Shocked at this, Lily looked up and stared into James' hazel eyes. She refused to tell him her method of escaping otherwise she would never be able to try to escape the same way again. "Tell me," the captained ordered more fiercely. "You continue to disobey me. I'll know someday whether you tell me or I force it out of you," James huffed angrily. Then he stalked out of the room. Before he left though, he turned to the young girl. "Your work starts bright and early tomorrow up on deck. I will have someone get you in the morning." James smiled evilly.

**A/N: Sorry about the long wait. I had a busy weekend. The next chapter will be up some time this week. It is about Lily's first day working and she becomes friends with Sirius and Remus.**

**Thanks for reading this story so far. Please review. I have been bombarded with reviews. They were all wonderful. Keep it up.**


	6. Friends and Enemies

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

A Change in the Tide

Chapter 6: Friends and Enemies

Lily was awoken by a light tapping on her door. The door opened with a creak to reveal a man she had met the day previously. He had given her that disgusting excuse of a meal. The man awkwardly stood in front of her waiting for the girl to get up.

"Umm," he started nervously. "Yeah, the captain told me to come down and get you. It is time for you to start your chores."

Lily grumbled into her pillow tiredly and then glanced out her very small window. It appeared to her to still be nighttime. Confused, she decided to address the man. "What time is it?"

The man just stared at her for a second until he thought to reply. "It's four o'clock, Miss." Once again Lily growled before obliging to the orders. The young man left while Lily prepared herself for the day's chores. He returned a few minutes later.

"Pardon me, Sir, but what is your name? I mean, I am going to be on this ship for an awful long time. I might as well know what I should call you. Right?"

"My name is Peter Pettigrew. You can call me Peter, though," the man said.

"Okay. You may call me Miss Evans," Lily said proudly.

The two walked through the ship. Peter led Lily through many cramped hallways before she was standing in front of a long hall. On the sides were small doors. Lily crept over to one of them and peaked inside. Inside, it was shaped much the same as her small cabin except these rooms were slightly bigger. It was obvious to Lily that the men who made up the crew slept here and that these were their living quarters.

Peter suddenly stepped next to her. "You are to make all of the men's beds, tidy up their rooms, and clean all of the clothes strewn on the floor. When you are finished, I will inspect your work and then you will report for your next set of work."

Lily nodded and reluctantly turned to the room ahead of her. Peter watched her walk into the first room, then turned to leave.

Lily entered the cabin and began her days work. She was not used to work, having servants for most of her life and therefore was having a very hard time coping with the work load she had. It took her an hour to finish the first room, not including washing the small pile of clothes she had. The next room did not take as long as the first, but it still took awhile. After three hours, Peter came back to see that Lily had only finished ten of the fifty rooms. He chuckled and said that the longer it took her to finish, the longer she would have to work for. That made Lily try to finish a little faster. It took Lily three more hours to finish the other rooms. Then Lily grabbed the large pile of clothes she had to wash. She was walking towards the washing room when suddenly, she tripped and dropped all of the articles of clothing she was carrying. She dusted herself off from the ground and looked up to see the captain himself hovering over her. He was smirking at her. "Good day, Miss Evans."

Lily glared at him in return with utmost hatred. He just laughed at her then whistled as he walked away, kicking a sock as he left.

Lily huffed and got up. She walked over and grabbed the sock. She then picked up all of the clothes sprawled all over the floor. She entered the room. There were three large empty buckets in the middle of the room. Along the wall, there were jugs of fresh water. Lily poured some water into two of the buckets. She added some soap to the one bucket and then began the painstaking process of washing dirty pirate clothes. Once she was done, she hung them up to dry. Just as she was finishing up, Peter checked up on her. Seeing that she was done, he instructed her on her next set of chores. She was to help the cook in the kitchen prepare both lunch and dinner.

Lily was directed to the kitchen where she met a man named George. He was a portly man in his late forties and was the cook on the ship. He was very nice to Lily but, Lily could not deny that his cooking sucked. She helped him make lunch which looked like her dinner from the previous night. Now Lily at least knew what was in the food she ate although it just made her want to eat it even less.

At lunch time, the tired men filtered into the dining room. George told Lily to serve the meal. She walked into the room holding the pot of stew and began pouring it into the hungry men's dishes. She made it all the way around the table with no problems until she reached the captain. She poured the stew into his bowl. She turned to walk away when she felt something warm slip down her leg. She looked down to see that the back of her leg and her dress was covered in stew. Lily hopped around, accidentally dropping the pot she was holding. It spilled all over the floor. Lily grabbed a napkin and wiped off the scorching hot food from her leg. Then she surveyed the damage around her. Knowing who had done this before she even turned around, Lily fumed with anger. She stepped up to the accused man and screamed at him. "What the hell is your problem. How immature are you? You're a grown man for Pete's sake," Lily paused in her rage. Hatred pulsed through her veins as she stood her ground waiting for the captain to do something.

James stood up and angrily stared at the girl in front of him. '_How dare she address me that way. She has no right to say those things.'_

Seeing the furious man in front of her frightened Lily a bit. It didn't help that he was well over a head size taller than her and was very muscular. She cowered a bit but still faced the man.

James swallowed his anger knowing that he could not hit this girl as he so desperately wanted to. Instead, he slowly sat down and pointed to his empty dish. "Get me more."

Lily whipped her head around to look at him. "What? I just spilt all of it. Unless if you want me to serve it to you from the floor?"

"Go make me some more. Oh, and I need a new napkin as well." Lily turned to walk away. "Don't forget to clean up the mess you made on my nice wood floors. Ah, better yet, why don't you clean all of the floors in this room," James continuously added to her already heavy load of chores. The rest of the men just laughed at Lily's predicament.

"I hate you," Lily muttered. Then she ran to the kitchen and set to work. She quickly pulled together a meal and went over to serve it to the man she hated most in the world. She placed a napkin beside him. As she began mopping up the floor, the men began to leave. All of them except for James Potter. He watched her work. Obviously, he wanted to make sure that she was doing everything she had been told to do.

When she was done, James told her that she was to mop up the entire upper deck. When she finished that, she would be done for the day.

Lily trudged up to the upper deck and set to work. The deck was huge and it would take several hours to clean it.

When the men had already finished their dinner and were reporting for bed, Lily wasn't even half way done. She wondered if she would even get a chance to sleep that night.

Just as Lily was thinking this, two men popped up behind her. "Need some help?" a voice questioned. Lily turned to see the young man with sandy hair she had seen earlier with the captain.

She laughed thinking that it was a joke. "I'm serious, I want to help you." The man went over and grabbed an extra mop. Lily stared, surprised that a pirate could be so nice. A second man joined them. He had dark hair and was pretty tall.

"Evening Miss Evans," the dark haired young man said.

"Thank you guys so much for helping me. It means so much," Lily said graciously after a few more minutes. "What are your names?"

The sandy haired man said his name was Remus Lupin. The second man said that he was Sirius Black. They spent the next two hours having small talk. Finally, they finished and Lily hugged both of the men. "I would probably not have finished this until morning without your help."

"It really was no problem, Miss," Sirius replied.

"Yeah, you really didn't deserve to do all of this work. James was being very unfair," Remus said.

Lily's blood boiled as she thought of James. Remus noticed her grimace and added, "He really isn't a bad guy. Trust me. I know him a lot better than you do. Give him time. He has been under a lot of stress and his life hasn't been easy."

"What do you mean? He is captain of a pirate ship. He has no concerns and can boss people around to no end. He is living a stress-free life," Lily said.

"Well," Sirius stepped in. "James was an orphan when he was younger. When he was twelve, he was taken aboard this pirate ship. The old captain of this ship was Harold Clark. He looked after James like he was his son. Recently, Captain Clark died and handed over his position to James. James hasn't quite been whole again without his fatherly figure around. It was hard enough leaving his childhood friends. The reason James is acting so harshly is because he is still trying to recover from all the past problems in his life."

Lily thought about it, but what James did to her was unforgivable. She felt bad for him, but that didn't make her hatred for him disappear.

Lily said goodnight to the men and then slipped off to her quarters for some sleep.

**A/N: This chapter was mainly Lily's POV- I will try to share some of James' side of the story in the next chapter. The next chapter will hopefully be out some time over the weekend. Sorry for this late update but I just haven't had the time to write. **

**Thanks you guys for the reviews. Keep them up.**


	7. Life on Deck

_Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Harry Potter_

A Change in the Tide

Chapter 7: Life on Deck

There was a light tapping on her door, signifying that it was time to get up. She got up, got changed and readied herself for her day's work.

Once she had finished, she opened her door to see Peter standing before her. "Good morning, Miss Evans. Did you sleep well?"

"As a matter of fact, I did, Peter," the girl answered sweetly. Lily followed Peter as he led her to the men's cabins. She entered the first one and set off to cleaning without being asked.

"Miss Evans, I'm leaving now. You know where to find me when you are done," Peter told her.

Lily continued her work. Over the course of a month, she had greatly improved her work ethic. Now, it only took her about two minutes to tidy every man's room. She realized that these men were pirates and they did not expect their rooms to be completely spotless. They were pleased with her work even if she didn't do a great job. Lily had asked Sirius several weeks ago about what the men thought of her work on the ship.

"We are all very happy to have you aboard. The ship has never been cleaner and the food has improved slightly since. Your work has been greatly appreciated."

Before Lily had been taken aboard this ship, the men were in charge of keeping everything. One could only imagine how filthy the ship was.

Once Lily had finished cleaning each man's room, she collected the days laundry and set off washing them. It took her a little more than an hour to thoroughly wash every man's clothes and hang them up to dry. Lily then headed towards the upper deck to find Peter. He was helping a man tie up some ropes.

"Hey, Peter, I finished."

Peter looked up from his work and nodded. "I suppose I do not need to inspect you any longer as you have been doing fine work. Now you can go help George in the kitchen."

Lily nodded and then left to go visit George. George had become a great friend to her. They chatted while they cooked together. Lily entered the kitchen, grabbed an apron and joined George by the stove.

"Hi, George."

George glanced sideways at her and smiled. "It's good to see you, Miss Evans."

"So, what are we cooking today?"

"Well, I took your advice about trying something new and… well I looked through this here cookbook," he pointed at the large book on the counter next to them. "and I found this," he pointed to a page that at the top, in bolded black letters, read _Beef Stew._ Lily looked over the recipe. It looked really good, and they had all of the supplies. Lily grabbed a carrot and a knife and set to work.

While Lily was chopping the carrots, and George was mixing the ingredients together, the two made small talk.

"So George, how long have you been a pirate for?" Lily asked. She had been very curious and had longed to know the answer to that question.

George paused from stirring the stew. "Well, it's been a long time. 'Bout thirty years, I'd say."

"Why did you become a pirate?" Lily continued her interrogation.

"I had no family left. My wife and daughter died from disease and my parents had long since been dead. I didn't know where to turn. Eventually, a group of pirates attacked my small town. I was captured but asked to join the men and that's how I became a pirate."

"Really? I'm so sorry about your family."

"It's alright. I know that wherever they are, they are happy and that makes me happy. Ya know? Besides, the crew of this ship is my new family now. I have a new life and I am pleased with it. You are free to live life with no worries."

They finished the stew and served it for lunch. All of the pirates were surprised to see a new meal on their plates but were pleased with the better tasting food.

Lily continued with her chores. She cleaned the deck and then helped George cook dinner. When she was done, she went up on the upper deck and sat there on the floor, looking at the dark, clear sky. She sighed as she felt the sea breeze tickle her cheek and as she breathed, she could smell the salty air. At first, Lily had hated the smell of the ocean, but it was growing on her. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Looking up, Lily saw both Remus and Sirius. They sat down beside her.

"Hey," Lily said.

"How was your day, Miss Evans," Remus asked politely.

"It was the same as usual, although I was able to talk to George about his life. He is usually asking me questions, but today, I was asking them."

"Well, George is a very interesting man. I have known him for quite a few years now, and he still has several stories to share," Sirius said.

There was a pause before Lily asked, "So how was your day?"

Every night, after they finished their job, both Sirius and Remus met up with Lily and they talked until it was time for bed. Over the past month, all three of them had become great friends.

"Same old," Remus said. "There hasn't been much to do lately on board. Since our last attack, there hasn't been any action… Pirates live for excitement."

"Yeah, it has been rather boring, but it's the captain's orders," Sirius agreed.

"What? The captain ordered you to be bored?" Lily asked, confused.

Both men chuckled at her question. "He didn't order us to be bored. What I meant was that his instructions made us bored," said Sirius.

"And what were those instructions?"

"We were just told to boss around the other men, really. We have to keep order for the captain," Remus informed her.

"Why doesn't the captain keep order? That's supposed to be his job."

"You have an awful lot of questions tonight, Miss Evans. The captain has his reasons, alright," Sirius responded, slightly irritated.

"So, you got any stories to share tonight?" Lily looked at the men, and for the rest of the night, they sat there and shared their past.

* * *

James walked out of his cabin and leaned over the edge of his ship. All around him was darkness. He could just make out the dark water below him. In a few minutes, Sirius would report to him, giving him the day's report. They would briefly chat and then they would both retire for the night.

As James inspected his ship from afar, he saw Sirius and Remus talking to a woman. The woman was Miss Evans. James felt a faint jab of jealousy as he stared at the three. Every night, the three sat together and talked. They were great friends. James was losing his friends to this woman. That made his hatred for her grow even more.

James returned to his cabin when he saw Sirius get up and head towards his way. He sat down at his desk and took out his maps. They had been heading away from England so that the risks of being captured would be less. Right now, James planned to go to Southern Asia and hang out there for awhile. Currently, they were somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.

There was a knock on the door. It was Sirius. "Come in," James said.

Sirius walked over to James' desk and sat down. There was an awkward silence before James decided to talk. "So, what is your report?"

"Well, today everything went well. We had no trouble with the men and we are on course. According to Peter, there are no enemies in sight." "That's good. You may go now." James didn't even look up from his work once.

Sirius eyed his friend. _'What is up with him?'_ "That's all we are going to talk about?" James nodded. Sirius was furious and growing very suspicious. "What?" Sirius' voice began to raise in volume. "There is something wrong with you. For the past few weeks, we haven't talked. It's all business. What happened? Why are you ignoring me, huh? I want to know."

James was startled by Sirius' outburst, but it only angered hi more. "What is wrong with me? Is that what you want to know? I want to know why you and Remus are hanging out with that girl more than me. It's like she has replaced me. That's what's up. Okay?" James was shaking with anger.

Sirius looked at his friend. He was shocked and couldn't come up with any words to defend himself. After a minute of silence, James told Sirius to leave.

Sirius looked at the door, but made no move to it. "Why do you dislike her so?"

"Miss Evans?"

"She is an amazing girl once you get to know her," Sirius interrupted James. "She is very interesting and knowledgeable, quite like Remus actually. Not to mention her kindness. You really should talk to her."

"I hate her," James whispered. "You don't hate her. You don't even know her. You're just jealous that we are spending more time with her than you. The truth is, Remus and I feel bad for her and we are only trying to make her feel welcome on this ship. We would spend more time with you if you were acting normal and not like a jealous prat."

"I am not jealous of the girl."

"Then why don't you like her?" Sirius asked.

"She has a perfect life. She was raised as a rich snob with money and happiness. She has a family who loves her. I was a poor orphan with hardly any friends. I've lost so many people I used to love. She has it easy. Not to mention, she is the daughter of our enemy.

"We don't know how her life was before she joined this ship, but obviously her life isn't any better right now. You see, you took her away from her friends and family."

"Well, I guess we are even now, but that doesn't make me like her anymore."

"You should really give her a chance, James."

James decided not to answer. Sirius supposed that James was torn so he didn't want to push his friend anymore. "Hey, I promise to spend less time with Miss Evans and more time with you," Sirius said, trying to mend their friendship.

James was still quiet, but finally spoke up. "I'm sorry for being a self-centered git. You don't have to sacrifice your time with Miss Evans just to make me happy. Maybe you could properly introduce me to her and then we could all hang out together."

"Yeah, but first, I'll have to get Miss Evans to agree to it, and she can be very stubborn sometimes."

The men laughed and shook hands. "I'll see you tomorrow then, bright and early," Sirius said.

"Goodnight, Sirius," James said in a much better mood than earlier that day.

**A/N: Sorry for such a late update. I have been extremely busy. I cannot make promises of weekly updates, but I will try my best to update often.**

**This chapter was kind of hard to write. I have been working on it for a few weeks. It doesn't have much action in it. The next chapters from now on until the end of the story will be much more exciting.**

**Don't forget to review.**


	8. Second Attack

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

A Change in the Tide

Chapter 8: Second Attack

"No. Absolutely not!"

The door was slammed in his face. "Please. Miss Evans. You have to see him tonight."

"Sirius, I already told you no. I will not go see him. He is a rude and arrogant pirate. Besides, I am sure he doesn't want to see me either."

There was a long pause before Sirius banged his fist on her door. "Please, let me in at least." Just as Sirius was about to push the door down, Lily opened it for him. Sirius, not prepared for the sudden action, stumbled through the doorway.

He looked up and saw balls of fire in Evans' eyes. She was extremely angry.

"Now, before you murder me, hear me out. James really isn't a bad guy. He is actually one of the nicest people I have ever met. I mean, he is my best friend. And let me tell you something, he can be just as stubborn as you. It took quite a lot of convincing for me to get him to agree to this. Now will you just…"

"Wait, he agreed to this. Whoa," Lily laughed unbelievingly.

"Trust me, he was not as willing as I had hoped, but I am proud of him for wanting a change. You, on the other hand, have no faith in your captain or myself and refuse to see any good in this situation. You are just afraid to see a nice guy in James," Sirius said. "Wow! I just realized that he has already proven himself the better man in this case because he was willing to face his enemy."

"What?" Lily said, her face contorted in confusion. After what Sirius said sunk in, Lily responded, "Fine, I'll have dinner with him tonight. I cannot allow Potter to appear as though he is better than me." Sirius leaped in the air. "You're gonna be there though, right, Sirius?"

"Um, yeah, sure, Remus and I'll join you for dinner tonight." And with that, the two departed for their day's chores.

* * *

Sirius walked the familiar hallways of _The Phoenix_ which had been his home for quite a few years now. When he reached the Captain's cabin, he lightly tapped on the door.

"Come in," said a clam voice.

Sirius opened the door to see Captain Potter sitting at his desk with a map in his hands. James looked up and a smile grew on his face.

"How's everything, Sirius?"

"Everything's fine," Sirius said, thinking about how they mended their friendship yesterday. "Hey," Sirius started, changing the subject. "I talked to Evans this morning."

James' eyes widened. "About what?" James asked intrigued.

"Well," Sirius noticed how his friend tensed up nervously when he mentioned Miss Evans. "I asked her about what she thought about having dinner with you tonight."

James saw a mischievous glint in Sirius' eye. "Really? What did she say about that?"

"Well, Miss Evans was extremely angered by the mere mention of you. She outright refused the invitation," Sirius paused for a moment to watch James' reaction. The captain looked slightly disappointed. "Actually, she didn't believe me when I said that you had agreed to it in the first place. Of course, in the end, I got her to agree to having dinner with you, as long as Remus and I joined you," Sirius chuckled and added, "You know, I can be quite persuasive. She is just as stubborn as you, if not more so."

James snorted and added, "That's hard to believe."

"Oh, trust me when I say it's true."

The conversation eventually moved to other things concerning their lives as pirates.

"We should reach a port in Singapore in roughly two to three weeks. Ugh, it is taking much too long," James said in frustration.

"It wouldn't have taken this long if we didn't have Miss Evans aboard."

"I know, I know. There's just nothing we can do to change that now, though."

"Just saying the truth, but you know that she has been a help…"

Sirius and James were interrupted by the door opening. There stood Remus with a serious expression on his face.

"Captain, I think you might want to see this." Both Sirius and James followed Remus to the upper deck to see what all the commotion was about.

Most of the crew was looking out in the distance. Peter shouted from the crow's nest, "I think that there is a ship heading our way from the west." James looked around, and indeed, he could faintly make out the shape of a ship.

"Peter, can you see the flag?" James asked, growing slightly uneasy.

Peter peered through his telescope and jumped. "It's a pirate ship," Peter screeched, obviously frightened. The rest of the crew began to scurry around in fear.

* * *

Lily walked up the stairs to tell the men it was time for lunch. She reached the top step and was surprised to see all of the men frantically running around and screaming. From what she could hear, they were yelling about "pirates". The men were quieted down by a loud booming voice.

James could not believe how cowardly his men were behaving. He stood up on a barrel and shouted for everyone to be quiet. Once the men had achieved silence, James continued. "Why are you all acting this way? We have faced pirates before. Maybe not in a couple of years, certainly not whilst I have been captain, but there is no reason to be acting like this. If anyone had seen us just now, they would have seen weakness. We are not weak and we should give them no reason to underestimate us. Now, I know that our last fight against pirates was not a huge success, in fact, many of our friends lost their lives, but we have to fight. If you are still not convinced, think about how their deaths would be in vain if you didn't. Now, we will all go out and fight bravely. May God bless us all." There was a moment of silence before Captain Potter spat out orders to his men.

Lily watched in admiration as James inspired his men to fight. She saw tears in many of the crew's eyes as they remembered their lost loved ones. She saw how the men had a new hope and desire to fight. Lost in all of the passion, Lily forgot about what she was supposed to do during the attack. It was when the first cannon was fired that she was shaken out of her stupor.

* * *

"Fire," James yelled. There was the familiar boom of the cannon as it sailed and missed the enemy ship. There was a nervousness that settled in his stomach as he thought about their last fight against pirates. It had been a month before Captain Clark had died. Many pirates on both sides were killed but there had been a great many more from _The Phoenix_. It was shortly after that fight that Sirius, Remus, and Peter joined the crew as the ship was in need of men.

James wasn't sure if he could successfully lead his men against another pirate's ship, but he knew that he had to at least try.

* * *

Scared to death, Lily ran to her cabin at the bottom of the ship, hoping that no one would find her down there. She waited for several minutes until she heard people boarding _The Phoenix_. She trembled at the thought of other pirates. There was no guarantee that she would be spared if she were to be captured. Most pirates are not as nice as Captain Potter's crew. _'The crew, what if someone dies. What if… what if Sirius or Remus get killed. What if Peter or George were killed. Oh that would be awful.' _Lily choked up as tears rolled down her cheeks. '_What if Potter dies, I'd never have had the chance to get to know him.'_ Lily was horrified by her thoughts and hoped against all odds that all of the men would live.

* * *

When the two ships were close, men from both ships began boarding the other ship. Swords were flashing everywhere as pirates faced their opponent. James ran from one enemy to another, swiftly killing them and then moving on.

Suddenly, James' breath was cut short when he was grabbed around his neck from behind. Struggling to breath, James desperately tried to loosen the man's death grip. He was spared the need when suddenly the man let go of him and dropped to the floor, blood pooling around his body. Relieved, James looked up to see Sirius. The two men shared a brief thank you before turning around to fight again.

This continued for several minutes. James looked around and saw Sirius fighting a very large man. Sirius was about to kill his opponent when a small man from behind ran up to Sirius and pulled out a knife. Without much time to think, James screamed for Sirius to move and jumped, pushing Sirius out of the way of the man. Both James and Sirius painfully tumbled down although, thankfully, neither of them had been stabbed. Quickly, they regained their footing and fought the two men who tried to kill them.

Through their team work, Sirius and James successfully disarmed their opponents and knocked them unconscious. It was then that James heard someone shout his name. "James, James!" James saw that it was Remus yelling. He was pointing behind James while shouting, "Miss Evans!"

James felt his stomach tighten as he turned around and saw Miss Evans, arms flailing and legs kicking, being carried onto the other ship by an enemy pirate.

**A/N: I am sorry about not updating in a while. I should be able to update often now though, because soccer season is over. **

**I hope you liked this chapter. Please tell me what you think. Reviews are greatly appreciated.**


	9. Saved

_Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and therefore am not the owner of the Harry Potter series_

A Change in the Tide

Chapter 9: Saved

"Creech!" The door to Lily's cabin opened. '_Damn_,' thought Lily, '_I forgot to lock the door!'_

From her hiding spot under her bed, she couldn't make out who was in her room, let alone whether she should be afraid of him. She could hear him rummaging through her belongings until he walked over to her bed. Lily knew that he was searching through her sheets for anything valuable. _'This pirate is obviously from the other ship.' _Lily clasped a hand to her mouth trying hard not to make a noise. She relaxed as she saw the man walk away.

"What 'ave we got 'ere?"

Lily screamed. The man had only backed up to check what was under the bed. Now, she was face to face with an ugly pirate. He had earrings all over his face and was bald. His teeth were rotten and his body was covered in tattoos. He looked at her with an evil glint in his eyes.

"Ahh!" Lily was grabbed and pulled out from under the bed.

"My my, aren't you pretty." The pirate stared at her with lust and longing. Lily shivered in disgust at his gaze. "You're coming with me." And with that, he grabbed her and carried her up to the top of the ship. Lily tried with all her might to free herself from the loathsome pirate but was proven too weak. She screamed out hopelessly to the pirates around her but they couldn't hear her in all of the commotion.

Lily saw Sirius fighting. She tried to call out for him to help her. Lily gasped as she saw a smaller pirate jump out from behind Sirius and try to stab him. "Noooooo!" Lily screamed. She was saved from the sorrow when at the last second, someone had jumped out and pushed Sirius out of the way. When both men stood up to face their opponents, Lily saw that it was Captain Potter who had saved her friend. Lily did not have much time to mull over it though, because she was swung over to the enemy ship. She could faintly make out in the distance, someone calling her name.

Lily wasn't let down by the man carrying her until they were at the furthest end of the ship. There, he let go of her and looked her up and down before making a quick decision to pick her up again. He walked them into a room, threw her onto a bed, then turned to lock the door.

He walked over to her, pushed her down, and laid on top of her. He began kissing her feverishly and Lily tried to wriggle herself out from under him, but could not manage it.

* * *

James and Sirius pushed people out of their way, trying to reach Miss Evans. Along their way, they had to stop and fight off other pirates. Finally, James made it through and crossed to the other ship. He turned around and saw Sirius fighting someone. '_Sirius will be fine by himself. I need to save Miss Evans,' _thought James as he continued his search for Miss Evans.

He ran to the other side of the ship, stopping occasionally to fight off an enemy. James looked around, but found no sign of Evans. '_I saw them come over here. They have to be here somewhere._'

James heard a scream come from the door to his right. He ran to it and grabbed the handle. "Damn it, it's locked; I should have known." James backed up and ran at the door, slamming his shoulder into the door. It came crashing to the floor. James hardly noticed the pain in his shoulder as he looked up to see a pirate kissing Miss Evans on a bed in front of him. The pirate got off the girl once he noticed James' presence. Miss Evans looked at James with relief.

* * *

Lily nearly cried when James had arrived in the cabin she was in. She had never been so happy to see him before in her life.

She saw the fierceness in his eyes as he pulled out his sword and prepared to fight the man in front of him. They both moved around in circles before James pulled up his sword to attack. As the two began fighting, Lily moved to the corner of the room where she thought she would be safer.

More enemy pirates came running into the cabin and James tried to fight them all. He was spared the need when Sirius came crashing through the doorway to help. Although James and Sirius were greatly outnumbered, two to six, they had the upper hand in skill.

Lily watched as the two brave men fought off their enemies. Once all of the pirates were unconscious except for one, James walked over to her while Sirius faced his opponent.

* * *

James saw how worried and scared Miss Evans was. She was distraught and shivering like mad. He kneeled down next to her and looked into her tearful emerald eyes. It was the first time he had seen so much fear in them. "Are you okay?" James asked with concern. Evans nodded. "Did he hurt you?" She looked down and said, "No, not physically at least." James concluded that she was simply flustered and would be alright in a couple of days. He pulled her close to him and gave her a gentle hug. "Everything will be fine," James whispered in her ear.

When they let go of each other, they looked up to see Sirius smiling at them.

"Come on, lets go," James told them. They all got up and walked back to _The Phoenix. _"Stay with Miss Evans," James whispered in his best mates' ear. Sirius nodded and took Miss Evans by the hand. He walked her below deck where they would stay until the battle was over.

James looked around and saw that many of the enemy pirates were retreating. James sighed in relief. It was all over.

Once the pirates were all on their appropriate ships, Captain Potter told his crew to ready the ship to sail east. After all orders were given, he walked up to Remus and Peter who were waiting patiently in the corner to talk to him.

"So, what's the news?" James asked.

"Well," said Peter, "there are quite a few injured but luckily no one died from our side. Also, there is a small break from a cannon but it can be fixed in no time."

James smiled thankfully. Then Remus said, "What are we going to do about the injured?"

James stared at his friend, lost in thought. They never really had a nurse or doctor aboard. '_Perhaps, Miss Evans might know a thing or to about nursing_,' James thought. "For now, I want you two to tend to the injured. I have to go talk to Sirius and Miss Evans for a little while.

* * *

Sirius and Lily waited patiently for news from the Captain. A few minutes later, Lily heard a knock on her cabin door. Captain Potter walked in. He looked at them and then immediately began talking. "Well, the battle is over, we won. No one was killed on our side. The bad news is that several people were injured," James paused before continuing in a softer tone. "Miss Evans, how are you feeling?"

Lily looked into James' hazel eyes and saw such care and concern in them. "I'm doing better."

"That's good, that's good. Yes, well, I was wondering if you had any nursing skills." James looked at the girl anxiously.

"I know a thing or two, only the basics. Why?" Lily looked up curiously.

"You know how several people are injured aboard this ship, well, we don't have a doctor or nurse on board. There is no one to tend to the injured men. I know you are not up to it right now, but when you are better, I think that you should become our ship's nurse."

Lily looked confused. "But, I already have several jobs on this ship. Adding another one and I would never finish everything in a day. I can't handle it."

Sirius walked over to Lily and stood behind her back, rubbing it soothingly. He eyed James. "Umm, how about you drop all of your shores except for helping George in the kitchen. Then could you handle being the ship's nurse?" James questioned.

Lily thought about the compromise and nodded her head.

"Great. When do you think you will be able to work again?"

"I can start now if you need me."

"I think that you may need to get better first. Clear up your head, you know," James said.

Lily's eyes flashed with anger. "I already told you, I'm fine. I am going to start right now. The men need me and there is nothing you can do to stop me."

James took a step back, not expecting Miss Evans' sudden anger.

"Okay, okay, you can go on up and help Remus and Peter on the second floor. They are already trying to help the men."

Lily stomped out of the room leaving Sirius and James alone.

"Wow, I think you may have been right when you said she was more stubborn than me," James chuckled light heartedly.

"I told you so," said Sirius.

**A/N: I felt bad for not having updated in ahwile so I decided to write this one sooner. Now, maybe you won't be so mad at me.**

**Don't forget to review! If I get alot of reviews, I may decide to update sooner.**


	10. New Friends

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

A Change in the Tide

Chapter 10: New Friends

"Hey, Sirius." Lily walked over to the young man who had just entered the room.

"How's everything been?"

"Good, I suppose. A few of the men were badly injured but nothing a little rest and medicine can't cure," Lily replied as she put some bottles of medicine away in cabinets and cleaned up any stray bandages. They were inside a room that now served as a ward for the sick. Surrounding Lily were a few beds where some of the men were lying down sleeping. "I'm done for the night," Lily said.

"Oh, are you going to your cabin now?" When Lily nodded, Sirius continued. "Mind if I walk you there?"

"Not at all." Lily followed Sirius out of the door. As they walked, Sirius tried to start up a conversation. "You know, Miss Evans, due to certain events that occurred today, you did not have your dinner with James."

Lily looked at Sirius in confusion for a second. Suddenly it clicked. "Oh, with everything that's been going on, I totally forgot about it. Does that mean it has to be rescheduled?"

Sirius smirked at her question. "I think tomorrow night will be fine, don't you think so." Without waiting for Lily to respond, he continued, "I just have to speak to James and confirm it."

Just as Sirius said this, the two reached Lily's cabin door. Sirius suddenly noticed Miss Evans frowning slightly.

"Miss Evans, are you okay?"

"Hmm, what? Yeah, I'm fine," she said nervously, jumping slightly at his question.

"What's wrong?" Sirius stared at the young girl. "Are you afraid… because of what happened… today on the other ship?" Sirius whispered gently, waiting for her reply.

Lily looked up at Sirius. He saw small tears forming in her emerald eyes. He hugged her, trying to comfort her. Sirius concluded that Miss Evans was afraid because nothing was distracting her from her nightmarish thoughts. "Hey, it's okay," he whispered soothingly in her ear as he rubbed her shoulders. "Do you want me to stay with you tonight?"

Lily thought about Sirius' question. She was scared. Today, she was lucky nothing serious happened to her. She knew that none of the men on the ship would do anything to her that would cause her pain, but she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about being alone at night.

"Would it be a problem?" Lily asked Sirius, finally giving in.

"Not at all, I would do anything for you." They smiled at each other.

Lily opened her door and led them both inside. It was small and there was only one bed. Lily noticed this and told Sirius that he could sleep in the bed while she slept on the chair at her desk.

"That's nonsense. You need a good night's sleep. Get in bed. I will be fine in the chair."

Lily grudgingly agreed. She slipped under the covers of her bed. "Goodnight, Sirius. Thank you."

"Night, Evans."

* * *

James waited in his private dining quarters. Remus was sitting down at the table before him. He began to pace back and forth, anxiously waiting for the arrival of Sirius and Miss Evans.

"Calm down, Captain," Remus said, trying to cure his friends' uneasiness.

James stopped pacing and turned to face Remus. "I am calm," he said in his stubbornness.

"I know, it's just that you seem a little… tense." Remus flinched, afraid his wording might have offended James.

"What reason do you have to think I am tense? First of all, I am not tense. You think I would seriously get nervous just because Miss Evans is joining us for dinner?" James tugged on his collar subconsciously.

Remus was spared an answer as the door creaked open and Sirius walked in accompanied by Miss Evans.

"Evenin'," Sirius said as he entered. Lily looked around at the three men and a small smile crept onto her face.

"Evans, you sit here." Sirius led her to the seat across from James at the other end of the square table. She looked into James' eyes and felt warmth fill her body. He gently smiled back at her. She moved her head to look around. Remus was already sitting to her right and Sirius took a seat to her left.

"So," started Remus, attempting to break the awkward silence. "How was your day, Miss Evans?"

"Erm, it was fine. I helped George cook and I just came from tending to some of the injured men, but, yes, it's been a busy day. What about yours?" Lily asked politely.

The table broke into a conversation about their day of work.

After a few minutes, George walked in with their dinner. "Hello, Captain," James nodded in acknowledgement, "Sirius, Remus, and, Miss Evans? What a surprise? And what might you be doing her?" George winked.

"What?" Lily laughed. "I told you earlier that I was going to be eating dinner here."

"Oh yes, well, anyways, enjoy your meal." George had made them chicken with some vegetables. They all began to dig in and ate in silence for a few minutes.

"You know," started James, "the food had greatly improved."

"Yeah, I noticed it too," said Remus. "I believe it is partially due to Miss Evans right here." They all turned to look at Lily.

She blushed. "I doubt that."

"Oh don't be so modest, Evans."

"I'm not being modest, it's the truth. I barely contribute to the meals. It is all George. I just do whatever he tells me to."

"Sure," Sirius said, unbelievingly.

Dinner continued as usual. It was nearing the end of the meal when Lily finally spoke directly to James. "Umm, Captain, I… well, I wanted to thank you… for saving me, yesterday."

James looked up to see Miss Evans talking to him. Shocked by her words, he listened intently, sure he had heard her wrong. '_Miss Evans hates me.' _

"I don't even want to know what would have happened to me had you and Sirius not shown up. I… I thank you very much," Lily finished quietly.

Not knowing what to say, James raised his eyebrows. "Your welcome."

Remus looked on with amusement at his two friends. They were actually having a civil conversation with each other.

"Yes, you were all very brave. I wish I could be more like you guys," Lily said.

Sirius jumped in by saying, "You know, that reminds me of the time when James and I were at this weapon store and suddenly a fight broke out…"

Sirius went on telling all different stories. The other men told some of their own as well. Lily sat through it and listened carefully, joining in the laughter every now and then.

"Haha, Sirius, I remember that," James chuckled as Sirius told another one of his stories, "although, it seems as though the story has been twisted somewhat. As I recall, the two men were drunk and could barely see straight, and, they certainly were not twice our size. I hardly call it being brave, knocking out two drunk guys who were trying to kill us with plastic knives."

"Yeah, well, we saved them from potential embarrasment."

Talk around the table continued and Lily began to see that James was not as stuck up as she thought he had been. He was fun to be around and very knowledgeable, not to mention, he had a sense of humor. She found herself at ease and began to loosen up a little, forgetting her old hatred that had been fading quickly since yesterday's events.

"Hey Evans, do you have any stories you would like to share?" James asked.

Lily stared before her, thinking. "Well, I don't think I have any stories worthy of sharing. I've had a very boring life."

"That can't be true, Miss Evans," Sirius said.

"Well, I don't know. What do you want to know about me?"

"Where were you born?" Remus asked.

"England. I've lived my entire life in England. I think I was born in a hospital in London. I don't remember much though."

"That's… cool. How old are you?" Sirius asked.

"Well, I just turned twenty a few months ago. What about you"

"Sirius and James are both twenty-one and I'm twenty-two."

"So you're only a few years older than me."

The men continued to ask Lily simple questions such as what her favorite food was, what her family was like, and what she thought of the ship.

"Well, at first I thought this ship was the worst place in the world, but I have come to realize it isn't so bad after all." At this Lily looked up to James.

'_She is not at all like I had assumed she was,' _thought James._ 'It seems she is quite shy and kind of sweet. You would hardly believe she had a mean bone in her body by looking at her now. I suppose I must have been really harsh with her to cause her to get mad at me. And, maybe her life wasn't as great as I had figured, with a sister who hates her and parents who care mostly about money.'_

"Hey, Miss Evans, remember when you were first captured, I tied you up and put you in your father's room. How did you manage to escape? You never told me," James said.

Lily thought about that day. '_Should I tell them. I mean, it was nothing special. Besides they are my friends now. I suppose it wouldn't hurt.'_ "If you'd really like to know, I kept a knife inside my corset. I was able to get it out and cut the ropes off me."

"Really, I would have never thought of that," James said, very interested.

"I wouldn't have either, but my father always told me to keep a knife hidden somewhere on you at all times. Just to be safe, you know." Lily told the men.

"Of course, safety first," Captain Potter said.

"Wait, so do you still have one on you right now?" Sirius questioned.

"I might, why do you ask? Afraid I'll use it to kill you?"

"No, just curious," Sirius laughed once he realized Evans wasn't serious.

"You know it's getting late. As fun as this has been, I really think I better be heading back to my cabin now."

"Ah, Evans, so soon?" Sirius pouted.

"I have to, otherwise I won't be able to get up tomorrow morning," Lily said, getting up from her chair.

"Wait, at least answer one more question," Sirius pleaded.

"Fine."

"I've known you now for a few months and I don't even know your name. I mean, I think we can drop the formalities now, _Miss Evans_."

"Wow, I can't believe I never told you my first name. It's Lily by the way."

"Lily?" Sirius asked. Lily nodded. "Well, g'night Lily."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Lily."

Lily said goodbye and left. After the door closed behind her, Remus and Sirius began talking with each other.

"Lily? It feels so weird to call her that and not Evans, you know what I mean." Remus nodded in agreement. "So James," Sirius turned to face his Captain. "what do you think of Lily." After seeing James' face Sirius asked, "What's wrong?"

"Her name is Lily," James said in a daze, still staring at the door Lily had just exited.

**A/N: If you hadn't noticed, no one in the story calls Lily by her first name. Now you know why I had her never share it with anyone. (If someone had called her Lily, it had been an error in the typing)**

**Next chapter will hopefully be up soon. Reviews are welcome.**


	11. Memories

_Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and therefore do not own Harry Potter_

A Change in the Tide

Chapter 11: Memories

Sirius stared at his friend in confusion. He decided that his friend needed clarification about Lily due to his latest response. "Well, that's what she said, that her name is Lily."

James simply nodded his head but continued to stare at the door ahead of him.

"James, is something wrong?" Remus asked, noticing his friend's unusual behavior.

Shaken out of his thoughts, James turned his head to face them. "Yeah? No, nothing's wrong. Everything's fine. In fact, it is getting late. I think I will head to bed now. Perhaps you should do the same," James suggested.

He got up from his chair and swiftly walked out of his room leaving his friends completely clueless.

* * *

"What do you suppose is wrong with him? He claims he is fine, but I know him too well to believe that. Do you?" Sirius asked.

"What? Believe him? Of course not. You could tell by the dazed look in his eyes something was up."

After a moment's silence, Sirius said, "Hey, you don't think that he likes Evans. Maybe that is why he was staring at her like that."

Remus rubbed his forehead, deep in thought. "I doubt that. They are barely even friends. For all I know, he might still dislike her. No, his face was that of one deep in thought. As if, something one of us had said had triggered something in his mind."

"You think so?" When Remus nodded, Sirius went on to say, "That does sound right, I guess. We'll just have to see, I suppose. He'll tell us what is going on eventually."

* * *

On his way to his room, James got lost quite a few times. He could hardly think straight. When he finally reached his door, he hurried inside. James relaxed on his bed and rubbed his temples, trying to clear his head.

"Okay, let me just think this out," James whispered to himself.

'_Well, first, her name is Lily. My Lily's name was Lily_,' James compared the two Lilys he knew inside his head.

'_They are both around the same age. Evans said she was twenty and, if I remember correctly, Lily was only a year younger than me, making her twenty now. Wow! It is hard to picture little Lily as a twenty year old._

'_Hmm, physically, I suppose they do look similar. Evans has red hair and…' _James had to stop and think. It had been years since he had seen his best friend from his childhood. '_Well, I think she had red hair. Yeah, I am pretty sure she had red hair. Now eyes… I know that my Lily had green eyes. I have no idea what color eyes Evans has. I think they are light colored. That leaves it to blue or green, I guess. _

'_This is so difficult, I'm comparing a twenty year old woman to an eleven year old girl I haven't seen in a long time. For all I know, after all these years, Lily might have changed her hair color to brown might be extremely tall and fat unlike Evans who is rather short and thin.'_

James got up from his bed and walked over to his stack of newspapers he had from a few years ago. At the time, he had just became a pirate and wanted to look for anything regarding a missing female orphan. He had found nothing. '_Maybe she was fine as I had figured and lived. Maybe there is a chance that Evans is my Lily. Aw, who am I kidding. Although they may look remarkably similar, she would have remembered me. Unless, she had forgotten me! No, Evans cannot be Lily. Lily had an amazing memory. It would have taken a lot to forget me. But, then again, how many redheads are there that are twenty years old, British, and have light eyes.'_

James was beyond frustration. He had to figure this out. He was going to find Lily right away and talk to her.

* * *

Lily had reached her room and changed into her night clothes. Jumping into her bed, she drifted into a deep sleep.

While sleeping, Lily began to hear voices inside her head. At first they were very faint, but they slowly grew to be louder and louder.

'_Lily, wait. Lily where are you going.' the voice sounded like one of a young boy. Suddenly, images began flashing in front of her eyes._

_Two young kids were running down a street, the young boy running quickly to catch up to the girl ahead of him. _

_There was another flash of an image with voices._

'_Don't cry, Lily,' the boy whispered to the girl as he stoked her back. 'Everything is going to be okay.'_

_The girl had tears in her eyes as she said, 'It is not going to be okay. I'll never see you again, James. I can't do it. I'm not going with them.'_

_This time the boy talked. 'Lily, you have to. They're going to take great care of you. They seem really nice.'_

'_I want to stay with you, James, and the rest of the kids at the orphanage. This couple that is adopting me will probably never let me see you guys again.'_

_The scene shifted. The young kids were hugging each other. The girl broke the hug and said, 'James, let's go away. We already made it out of the grounds. We can live together in the streets, like this here alley.'_

'_Lily, that's impossible. Stop thinking that.'_

'_No James. I'm not leaving you.' She grabbed his hand before continuing. 'We'll be fine and I won't be adopted. Please James… please.' The girl began crying hysterically._

'_Lily, you know we can't do that. We could die. Besides, we would have to steal our food and live the rest of our lives as thieves. And what would happen if the police found us? Huh? It would never work. I don't want to see you hurt, Lily,' the boy reasoned._

'_Oh James_, _you're my best friend. I don't want to lose you.'_

_The scene flashed again. The kids perked up when they heard noises. As the noises came closer, two pirates came into sight. Frightened, the young children stayed put, having no way of escape._

_The men spotted them and walked over to them. One of them said, 'Now what's wrong? Are you scared of us?'_

_The young boy bravely spoke up. 'Leave us alone.'_

'_Well, I happen to like it here. I don't want to leave_.'

'_Leave now!' The young boy screamed. He stood up, prepared to defend himself and his friend. _

_The two pirates walked closer to them. One of them said, _'_What are you going to do about it?' _

'_I… I'll fight you.' The boy raised up his fists._

'_James, please don't,' the girl whispered worriedly._

_A new image popped up. The pirates had just attacked the boy. The girl got up and tried to save her friend. It was useless. The men were too strong for such young kids._

'_Stop!' the girl screamed. 'What are you doing? Stop it! Leave him alone.'_

'_Cut it out girl,' one of the men roared at her. When she didn't stop, he roughly pushed her down where she hit her head hard against the pavement. Then everything went black._

Lily suddenly woke up from her dream. There was a knock on her door. Without waiting for an answer, the person outside opened the door.

Lily looked up in shock at the man before her.

"James," she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks.

**A/N: I know that it was kind of short. Originally, this was going to all be part of the last chapter, but I figured that it would be too long to have all in one chapter. **

**I know I left you hanging at the end so I am going to try to update again by the end of this week.**

**Thanks for reading this story so far and feel free to review.**


	12. Story

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

A Change in the Tide

Chapter 12: Story

James knocked on Lily's door and waited to enter. When no answer came, James grew impatient and grabbed the door knob. He opened the door and stepped inside. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Lily sitting awake in bed. What startled him the most was that she was crying.

Suddenly, the redhead spoke to him in a soft, gentle voice.

"James," Lily said with sparkles in her eyes. Green eyes, James noticed.

Just as James noticed her eyes, Lily jumped off her bed and ran over to him. She quickly wrapped her arms around his waist and cried into his chest.

For several minutes, Lily cried and James awkwardly attempted to soothe her._ 'I wonder what happened to Evans?' _he thought.

James was pulled out of his thoughts when Lily spoke once again. "James, I remember."

James' face crinkled in confusion. "What?"

Lily began to panic. '_Maybe I was wrong when I guessed this James Potter was the same one I grew up with. I mean, James Potter is a common name. Besides, if he was the James Potter I knew as a child, he would have remembered me.'_

Lily pulled herself away from James and looked into his beautiful hazel eyes. It was then that everything clicked inside James' head. '_This girl looks exactly like my Lily. She has to be my Lily. Only thing is, why doesn't she remember me?'_

"Lily?" James asked, growing anxious. Looking into each other's eyes, both James and Lily realized they had found each other at last.

James suddenly felt joy beyond belief. He grabbed Lily and hugged her tightly. He spun her around in a circle while Lily giggled shyly. When James set her down, tears filled his eyes. He was so overcome with emotion. He was finally with _his _Lily again. He was so happy Lily had been fine all these years and hadn't died or disappeared after they had separated.

Lily could not believe that she was finally able to see James again. She was also glad her memory had come back after all these years. It was a miracle.

After several minutes of silence, Lily decided it was time to talk. "James, I remember everything now. I can't believe I ever forgot you." Lily stopped when she saw James' frown. "What's wrong?"

"I, well, I can't believe you forgot me. I certainly didn't forget you. We lived together for over ten years. I know that you went off and did your own thing after I was kidnapped, but I assumed you would have remembered your best friend."

Lily felt bad for hurting James' feelings and decided to clarify. "James, you are impossible to forget. I was able to remember you after suffering from memory loss. Now that's saying something."

"Wait, what happened?" James asked confused.

"I lost my memory."

"How?"

"When you were kidnapped, I tried to help free you from the pirates. One of the men hit me and I hit my head on the ground. Since then, I haven't been able to remember anything… until tonight of course."

"I can't believe Bill and Hyde did that to you. I am gonna kill them," James said in anger. He clenched his fists tightly.

"Who are Bill and Hyde?" Lily asked when she felt James tense.

"They're the men that kidnapped me. They were pirates on this ship until about two years ago. They decided I was not fit for captain and left."

"Oh."

"If I ever see them again, I swear, I am gonna kill them."

Lily tried to calm James down. She rubbed his arms soothingly. James decided to change the subject. "You said before that you lost your memory, but how is it that you are able to remember me now."

Lily sat, deep in thought for a moment. Truth be told, she did not know herself how her memory came back. "I honestly don't know," she told him. "I went to sleep not knowing who you really were and woke up, remembering everything."

"Weird." James said.

"Hey, how come you didn't realize it was me until tonight?" Lily was curious to know his answer. He probably didn't have an excuse to forget her like she did.

"Well… A day hasn't gone by when I haven't thought about you; let's just put it that way. I just never expected to see you again. I just assumed you weren't Lily because I knew it would take a miracle for me to ever see her again."

"Surely you recognized my name," Lily added.

"Well, _Lily_, up until tonight, I did not know your first name. I called you by 'Evans'. Speaking of your name, I assume 'Evans' is the name of the couple that adopted you." Lily nodded in response. "So, what happened after you were knocked unconscious?"

"All I remember is that I woke up in a hospital and couldn't remember anything from my past. Then, when I was released, I was adopted by the Evans' and life continued."

James nodded then Lily asked, "Hey, what happened to you after the pirates kidnapped you?"

"Bill and Hyde took me to their captain, Captain Clark. After meeting me, he basically adopted me. Captain Clark was like a father to me. He trained me to be a pirate and I took up his place as captain when he died."

"James, I am sorry about your loss. Sirius told me a little about it."

"It's alright, Lily. I've gotten used to life without him. I still miss him though," James said as he stared out the window into the dark night. It was quiet for a few moments.

The two sat there quietly, enjoying the presence of the other. The minutes passed by in silence. James was thinking about when he first captured Evans and brought him onto his ship. He broke the silence by saying, "I wondered why I had decided to kidnap you from your father several months ago. Now I know the answer."

Lily looked up at James with curiosity. When James didn't answer his question Lily asked, "Really? _Why_ did you kidnap me?"

"I think it was because, when I looked at you, deep inside, I recognized that it was you. That you were Lily, the girl I had not seen since I was twelve. That also explains my inexcusable behavior when I first brought you onto my ship. You brought out the child in me."

Lily smiled and said, "Yes, you were acting rather childishly. But so was I."

The two laughed softly. Then, Lily yawned. James looked at Lily and noticed how tired she looked and how sleepy her eyes appeared. It was then that he suggested he leave and that she go to sleep. They said goodnight and James was walking out when Lily said, "Wow! I can't believe that after all this time, I am finally with you again. I never want to leave you again, James."

James turned around and hugged Lily. He walked out of her room, shutting the door, knowing he felt the same way.

**A/N: Wow! It has been awhile. I apologise for such a late update. I think this is the longest I have gone without updating. I hope this won't happen again but I make no promises.**


	13. Sirius Talks

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter_

A Change in the Tide

Chapter 13: Sirius Talks

James walked to his room and walked over to his cluttered desk. Noticing the newspapers strewn over it, James picked them up and tossed them into the trash can. He fell asleep soon after.

James was awakened by the warmth of the sun's rays streaming through his window. He blinked twice before realizing he was in his room. Slowly, the events of last night filled James' head. He remembered Lily and they had reunited. He couldn't wait to talk to her again. He wanted to find out as much about her as he could; all of the things he had missed while they were separated.

James got up and got ready for the day. As he was walking towards Lily's cabin, he remembered that she was probably sleeping still. He shrugged and continued towards her room anyways.

As James reached Lily's door to her cabin, he tapped lightly to see if she was awake. There was no answer. He opened her door slightly to peek in. James was surprised to see the room empty and the bed made. '_I guess she is already up. I wonder where she went.'_

James decided to head down to breakfast. The dining room was empty as everyone was already working for the day. It was almost lunch time, but George made James a small platter to eat. James quickly finished his meal and headed up to the deck where he would have to continue his duties.

Once he reached the deck, he looked around, inspecting his crew and making sure everything was in order. He walked toward Sirius to take over. At the moment, Sirius was steering. James quietly swept over to his first mate and tapped him on the shoulder. Sirius jumped in response. James watched as his friend turned to face him.

"Gee, James, you scared the crap out of me. I nearly just punched you. You can't blame me if I had, though. How am supposed to know if you are not an enemy?"

James smiled in response. "I'll take over now. Go make sure Peter is on the lookout, and could you check on Lily."

'_Lily, who's Lily-oh Evans,' _Sirius thought to himself. Sirius couldn't help but feel as though James wanted to get rid of him. "Aye, Captain. Just one question though. How come you slept so late? I went to your cabin this morning and found you sleeping. I didn't want to wake you up, but I found it unusual thought that you would sleep so late. You always get up early." Sirius stopped his questioning to see James' reaction.

To Sirius, James appeared as though he was in another world. He had a blank stare as Sirius asked him his question. It was almost as though James wasn't listening. After a few moments with no answer from James, Sirius backed up and turned to walk away. "Hey, James, I'll see you at lunch."

This time Sirius got a response. His captain simply nodded his head. Sirius knew something was up with his friend. He would ask him at lunch.

* * *

Lily got up when she heard people walking past her door. She sat up on her bed and glanced out the window. The sun was shining. Lily figured that the men were going downstairs to eat breakfast. Lily got off of her bed and dressed for the day.

At breakfast, Lily ate with George in the kitchen. She and George made light conversation until Lily had to leave. Lily headed towards the infirmary where she was to take care of the sick and injured.

While hustling about, fixing people's wounds, Lily thought about dinner the night before and all of the events that occurred after.

She felt like a whole new person. She now had her memory back and was able to fill in that blank in her life. Her parents would be amazed to know that she remembered her childhood now.

Her parents. Now that she knew her past, Lily also remembered meeting them. She was at the orphanage and they told her they were going to adopt her. Lily had been very upset which led to she and James running away. Lily felt so bad thinking about it this way, but, it was because of her parents that James was captured and she got hurt.

Her body was in autopilot while Lily focused on her thoughts. '_I wonder where my parents are now. Did they ever make it to Lord Dursley? How is Petunia? Are my parents out looking for me? Will I ever see them again?'_

Lily was so deep in her own thoughts, she didn't even noticed when Sirius entered the room. Sirius looked around the infirmary and saw Lily wrapping up a man, named Gary's, arm.

"Evans," Sirius called out. Lily didn't respond. '_That is weird, I could have sworn I spoke loud enough for her to hear.' _"Hey, Evans," Sirius repeated even louder. Lily continued her work, oblivious to the man calling her name.

'_Hmm, that's funny. James is acting the same way as Lily.'_

A bell sounded, signaling lunch. Sirius turned around and left the room.

Lily was shaken from her thoughts as the lunch bell sounded. She glanced up from Gary's arm and noticed the door closing to the room. Lily shrugged and finished wrapping the pirate's arm. She cleaned up the supplies and went to go see George.

* * *

Sirius watched James walk into the lunchroom. He stood up to call James over. His captain looked over to him, and started heading towards him.

Once both of them were settled in their seats with food, Sirius began his interrogations. Looking into his friend's eyes, Sirius asked, "What's going on, James?" Sirius was concerned for his closest friend.

James didn't exactly understand what Sirius thought was wrong. "Nothing is going on. I'm fine. Better than ever actually."

"Really? I beg to differ. I noticed that you seem awfully tired today. What happened after you left dinner last night?"

"Oh, that." James nervously ran his hand through his messy hair. "I was thinking about… uh things."

"Things? Care to expound upon that." James stared at the men eating around him, trying to decide whether or not he wanted to share his news about Lily just yet.

James finally came up with what he was going to say. "I was thinking about Lily." James knew that he had said the wrong thing when he saw Sirius' eyes widen with a mischievous glint in them.

"Really, Lily, huh? She is quite a catch. I knew you would fall for her eventually. Gosh, every guy on this ship secretly crushes on her. Even Remus and I feel something for her although I'm thinking it is more along the lines of friendship. Wow! I can't believe it. I was right all along. James, you just made me five dollars richer. You see, Remus and I made a bet and…"

"Sirius, shut up. That's not what I meant."

"I said that you would fall for Lily within the month and Remus said it would take you three months from now." Sirius ignored his captain and continued his rambling. "Hey, you know, when I went into your room this morning, I noticed that you threw out all of your old newspapers. What's with that?"

"Sirius, that's what I've been trying to tell you. The girl I used to live with at the orphanage is Lily."

It took Sirius a moment before it dawned on him. "Lily, the girl's name was Lily. And we know a Lily. You don't think they're the same?"

"I know that Evans is the Lily I know. I talked to her last night." "No way. So does that mean you really don't have a crush on her?" Sirius was disappointed when he noticed his friend shake his head. "Damn. I really needed the money. So… you talked to Evans last night. What happened?"

"Well, I went to go see her in her room and when I entered, she told me that she remembered me. We talked for awhile about our past. Did you know that the reason she didn't remember me was because she suffered from memory loss. Bill and Hyde hit her and she hit her head. Up until that night, she had no recollection of her past."

"Wow, what a story?"

The two men continued talking through lunch and a little after. It was James who ended the conversation. "I have to go check up on everything." James stood up from his chair and stretched out his limbs. Hey, is Peter doing his job?" Sirius nodded. "Good, and Lily?"

"She was in the infirmary this morning." James nodded his head and then left.

Sirius followed his friend out the door and headed down the opposite hallway as James, looking for Remus.

Sirius was in such a hurry that as he rounded the corner, he didn't notice the red-head walking straight in his direction. When he noticed her, it was too late. They had already bumped into each other and poor Lily fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry, Evans." Sirius reached down to help her up. When Lily stood up, she straightened out her dress and fixed her hair.

"It's okay," Lily said, "It was my fault anyway. I wasn't watching where I was going."

While Lily was talking to him, Sirius could only picture her as a little eleven-year old hanging around with a young James.

Suddenly, Sirius remembered how Lily was acting earlier that day. Although he knew what was wrong, he wanted to know her side of the story.

"So, Evans, I couldn't help but notice that you seem different today."

Lily tensed when she heard this. She didn't know what to say. Sirius was not surprised to see her shocked and confused expression. He dragged her back into the dining room where they both sat down across from each other at a table.

"Sirius, I really have to get back to work," Lily complained.

"C'mon, Evans, cool off for a sec. I just want to talk to you for a few minutes. So," Sirius awkwardly began the conversation, "why have you been walking around in a daze today?"

"Well, I've had a lot to think about lately."

"Does it have anything to do with James?" Sirius bated her.

Lily paused before answering. "Yes, as a matter of fact, it does."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. I know this is going to sound weird, but I knew James when I was younger."

"No?" Sirius said in mock denial.

"Yes, it's true. We lived in the same orphanage. We were best friends too. Inseparable. Amazing how things have changed."

"How so?"

"Well, for one, James is a… a pirate now. Not to mention the fact that just last week, both of us could hardly stand being in the other's presence. It's hard to believe we were friends."

"Just because you are different from each other doesn't mean you can't still be friends," said Sirius.

"I know, it's just that, oh I don't know," Lily shook her head in confusion.

"Even though James is a pirate, doesn't mean his character has changed. He is the nicest guy I know. Sure, he can be tough at times and his temper can get to the better of him, but he is a good person. I'm sure that at least that much of him hasn't changed," Sirius provided.

"I suppose so. I just want to get to know him better. We have so much to catch up with."

"So, do you think that you could ever be more than friends," Sirius sneakily added in the question.

Lily eyes bugged out of her head. "What?" she asked in shock. "Me and James? Huh, no way. We have only ever been friends. Besides, he just isn't my type."

"So what exactly is your type?"

"Why do you care, Black?"

"Just curious. Is it because he is a pirate?"

"No… no, I just don't think he is my type, okay. He could only ever just be a friend."

"Okay, I get it."

"Well, I really have to go now," Lily said. She left without saying goodbye. Sirius was by himself, thinking. _'Wow, Lily is extremely touchy on that subject. Note to self : never ask Lily about possible love interests.'_

It took a few minutes before Sirius remembered why he had been in a hurry before he bumped into Evans.

Sirius spent the next ten minutes searching the ship for Remus. He found him braiding some ropes on deck.

"Hey, Remus, mind if I join you?"

"Not at all," Remus said without looking up from his work. Sirius grabbed some rope and sat down on a barrel next to Remus.

"You know, I talked to both James and Evans today. Guess what I found out?"

"What?" Remus asked.

"James and Lily lived at the same orphanage when they were children."

At this, Remus looked up with interest.

"That's not possible… the odds of that happening are…Wow! That's just unbelievable. How are they both reacting to their discovery?"

"They are still trying to overcome the shock of it all. I made the mistake of asking too personal of questions with Evans. She is slightly annoyed with me right now," Sirius said, guiltily.

Remus and Sirius spent the next hour analyzing their friends' relationship and trying to decide how to help them out.

**A/N: This is my longest chapter yet in this story! I know it wasn't very action packed. It was a filler chapter that showed the current relationship between Lily and James. The next few chapters will show developement in their feelings for each other. Hopefully, they will be more interesting than this chapter.**


	14. Pirate

_Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling therefore I am not the owner of Harry Potter_

A Change in the Tide

Chapter 14: Pirate

Lily huffed in anger, "Arg, I hate Sirius Black. The nerve of him. Nosy git. How dare he ask me such personal questions." She blindly stomped through the hallways.

After several minutes of walking in circles, Lily decided to go to her room and cool off a little bit.

Lily pulled open the door of her cabin and rushed inside. Upon entry, her disposition immediately changed. There was something about the room that had a calming effect on her. She gently sat down on her bed and looked out the window. The ocean stretched infinitely around her. The setting sun reflected off the water creating a perfect scenery.

Lost in the beauty outside her window, Lily forgot about the reason she had gone to her room in the first place. By the time she remembered what she had planned to do, it was nearly dinner time. Shaking her head, she decided to take a few minutes to think.

As she thought, she began to realize how ridiculous she had been acting. She was mad at Sirius for such a stupid reason. Sure, Sirius had been a bit forward with his questions, but he meant no harm. In fact, knowing Sirius, he was probably teasing her and purposely instigating her.

Laughing at how worked up she had become, the contents of Sirius' questioning began to race through her mind.

'So, do you think that you could ever be more than friends?' Sirius' voice echoed in her head.

"Me and James? I hardly know him. The _new_ him, that is… more than friends? We are barely friends as it is. Pfft, who is Sirius kidding."

Lily's personal questioning was put on hold when there was a knock on her door.

* * *

After Sirius and James ate lunch and finished their conversation, James continued his mission from earlier that morning. He walked back to Lily's room, hoping she was in there. When he reached the cabin, he noticed that the door was open as he had left it that morning when he went to check in on her. Peaking inside, he immediately realized it was empty.

Feeling slightly disheartened, James continued his search. He decided that the next best place to check would be the infirmary. When he reached the room filled with his sick and injured crew, he noted that there was no redhead in sight.

James asked his men where Lily had gone.

"She just left, went down to see George, I think," a man with a damaged arm, named Gary, answered. Turning at the door, James huffed in frustration. He headed back to the kitchen where he started his search.

James entered the kitchen, but only found George in the room. George was cleaning up all of the dishes used for lunch. George turned around to greet his captain.

"Good afternoon, Captain Potter."

James nodded in greeting then asked, "Have you seen Lily? I've been looking for her all day. I want to talk to her."

George noticed his captain's impatience and hurriedly replied, "Last I saw her, she was in that hallway talking to Sirius." George pointed in the direction in which he was referring to.

Deciding not to be rude to a friend of Lily's, James said thank you before leaving. He walked to the hallway George told him he had last seen Lily, but it was empty so he followed it to the end and went up the stairs. On deck, he saw Remus and Sirius braiding rope. He marched over to them and asked his question without a proper greeting.

"Sirius, where is Lily? George said he saw you and Lily talking earlier."

Sirius decided to play with James a little. He waited, pretending to be thinking before answering.

"George is right, I was talking to her."

"Sirius, answer the question."

"What was the question again?" Sirius asked innocently.

"Sirius, answer now or you will be scrubbing the deck for the rest of the week. _By_ _yourself!_"

"Hmm, Lily. She just walked away after our conversation. Didn't say where she was going, though. Maybe she went back to the infirmary."

James ran his hands through his already messy hair in an attempt to control his emotions. "I already checked there." James seethed through his teeth. He wasn't necessarily mad at his best mate. He just desperately wanted to talk to Lily.

"Sorry mate," Sirius shouted as James stormed back down the stairs. He quickly walked past the infirmary. After no success, James continued walking until he reached Lily's cabin. James sighed, realizing that the door was closed. That was a good sign. Taking a minute to control his frustration, James took deep breaths in and out. When he felt he was calm enough, he gently knocked on Lily's door, politely waiting for a reply.

"Who is it?" James heard Lily's sweet voice ask.

"It's James."

After a few seconds, James heard a creak as the door flew open. In front of him, stood a very beautiful and serene Lily.

James cleared his throat. "Hello Lily."

Lily looked into his hazel eyes and replied, "Good afternoon, Captain."

James nodded his head and tore his gaze away from Lily. "Was I interrupting anything?"

"No, of course not. I was just lost in my own thoughts. Actually, I was just about to head down for dinner."

"Hungry?" James asked.

"A little," Lily admitted.

"Do you want to go to my dining room for dinner?" James anxiously awaited her answer.

"Um, sure."

James grabbed hold of her arm and gently led her to his own private quarters.

The two sat down across from each other at the empty table. James excused himself for a moment. He went to go tell George that he would be serving two that night. Once he returned, he settled down in his chair.

Just as James was about to begin conversing with Lily, George walked in carrying two trays. George set them down in front of them and the two began eating.

They both ate in silence, too nervous to talk to one another. Once the plates were clean, the excuse for not talking disappeared.

George came in and took their plates away.

Lily rubbed her arms nervously and James coughed, both uncomfortable with the silence, but too afraid to start the conversation.

Finally, James asked, "So, how was your day?"

Lily smiled slightly and said, "It was fine, a little busy, but nothing unusual. How was your day?"

"Fine." James paused trying to think of another topic for discussion. "So, I heard you had a talk with Sirius today. How did that go."

"Well, I told him about our past. That's really it."

"Really? I told him about you at lunch time."

Lily started laughing. James, not sure what was so funny, decided to join in. Her laugh was contagious.

"That's funny. Sirius acted as though he knew nothing about our past when I talked to him. And that was after lunch."

"Well, that's Sirius for you."

"Yeah." Suddenly, a question flashed through Lily's mind. "I want to ask you something…"

"Go on," James encouraged.

"Well, do you enjoy life as a pirate?"

James paused for a moment. Lily watched as James' brows furrowed in concentration. He was deep in thought. When James spoke, he began softly. "Life as a pirate has it's pros and cons. For one, I don't have any deadlines. I can do whatever I want. I have loyal friends and crew and I have enough gold to fill a whole room. But, of course pirates don't have the best reputation. We are considered thieves, slugs, lazy hogs, and filthy scum. Also, most pirates aren't to be trusted."

Lily noticed James' frown. "James, none of those things you listed pertain to you. You're not like other pirates."

He gave a sad chuckle. Looking up into Lily's eyes he noticed a mischievous glint in them.

"James, I want to learn how to be a pirate."

**A/N: So, I finally got this chapter out. I apologize for the length. It was going to be longer, but I decided that as one chapter it would be two long. Instead, I split it into two. I plan on updating soon.**

**-Review**


	15. Defense

_

* * *

_

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

A Change in the Tide

Chapter 15: Defense

James stared at Lily in silence. '_She can't be serious.'_

"Lily, what are you talking about?"

"I want to learn the ways of a pirate, James." She knew James wasn't very pleased with her reply.

"Lily, why?… No!" James shook his head in confusion.

"No what?" Lily huffed.

"No, you are not going to learn how to act like a pirate."

Lily had known that James was going to be angry but was shocked by his furious expression. His face was red, his eyes wide, and his fists scrunched up tightly.

Lily took a moment to grab hold of herself. After a minute of silence, Lily calmly voiced her question. "Why can't I?"

Had the circumstances been different, James would have laughed at Lily's remark. It reminded him of when they were kids.

"Lily, you're a lady. Ladies don't act like pirates. It's not proper."

"I don't care, James."

"No, Lily. That's final."

Lily was at a lost as to what to say. Her mouth silently opened and shut a few times before she shouted, "It's not final James. I… I don't want to be a lady, James. Please…"

Lily was interrupted by James, "Lily, like I said; life as a pirate has it's ups and downs."

"I know James. Why else do you think I made my decision to learn how to be a pirate in the first place. I think it would be fun."

"See Lily," James started to say, "that's where you are wrong. Being a pirate is not _fun._ You think of this as some sort of game, don't you? Lily, it's not all fun. We have to work hard to keep this ship running smoothly. We have to constantly steal from others to make a living. Not only that, but there are many fights that end in death. That is no place for a lady."

"James, when are you going to see. I don't want to be a lady. I don't want to be stuck up and proper all the time. It is so boring. I don't want to have to dress up for special occasions or look out for potential suitors all my life. James, I want to break away from that." Lily just realized that she was not happy with her life in England. She loved her parents dearly, but she realized that that life had no adventure.

"Lily, you will regret this decision for the rest of your life as I have. In England, though I was an orphan, I had honor and people treated me with respect. I will never be able to rewind what has happened. Sure, life as a pirate suits me well, but I can't help but miss how things used to be. I didn't have a choice though, you do."

"Yes, and you have shown me how wonderful life as a pirate is."

"Great," James replied sarcastically. "It doesn't matter though because I am not teaching you."

"Well, if you won't teach me the ways of a pirate, will you at least teach me to defend myself in the face of danger."

James pondered over this for a moment. He immediately made his decision after remembering the last pirate attack where Lily had nearly been raped.

"Fine. We'll start tomorrow."

Lily smiled brightly, feeling victorious. The rest of the night continued normally and Lily and James parted ways to go to sleep.

Lily woke up early the next morning. She was excited for her defense training session with James later that day. She ate breakfast quickly and then made her way to the infirmary.

Remus came to check on her right before lunch time.

"Hey, Evans."

Lily looked up from her work to greet Remus. "Hello, Remus. How are you?"

"I'm well. And you?"

"I'm doing fine."

"That's good. So, James sent me here." Lily nodded in understanding and Remus continued. "He wanted me to tell you that your training session will begin after lunch. You are to meet hi in his cabin."

Once Lily digested the information, she said, "Thank you, Remus."

"Just doing my orders. Have a nice day, Miss Evans."

An hour later, it was time for lunch. Lily headed down to the hall and ate by herself. When she was full, she got up to go see James. When she reached his door, she hesitated. She slowly lifted her hand to knock on his door. She softly rapped at his door and then waited in silence.

James opened the door for her and motioned her inside.

"Hello, James."

"Hello."

Once their greetings were said, Lily studied James' room for a moment. In the back was his bed. It was neatly made and looked as though no one had used it the night before. Then she saw a desk just a few feet in front of her. It was littered with maps and newspaper clippings. Beside the desk was a trash can filled to the top with papers and scraps. On the wall, hung all sorts of weapons. Despite the dangerous weapons surrounding, her Lily felt completely at ease.

"So, do you want to begin now?" James interrupted Lily's thoughts with his question.

"Huh…," Lily shook her head then said, "Yes, I'm ready."

"Uh, okay. I don't exactly know where to start. I suppose I could introduce you to the weapons," James pointed towards his wall.

"Okay."

"Well, first off, we have the cutlass." Here James pulled a sword out of his scabbard and held it out for Lily to see.

"Wow!" Lily said in amazement.

"Yeah, you'll learn how to use this eventually, but I want to start with something else."

Lily nodded in agreement.

"This here is a dagger." James showed her the small knife then continued. "This is an axe, and those there are a bunch of different sized knives. Oh, I've also got those guns over there." James pointed to the far wall.

He pulled her along as he walked there. "These are all a bunch of pistols."

"Wow, there sure are a lot of weapons. Do you use them all?"

James nodded. "Each one helps with different things."

"Oh, and will you teach me to use them all."

"In time, I hope."

It was then that Lily noticed another weapon James had missed. "Hey, what's that." Lily pointed at the larger gun on the wall.

"What? Oh that? That's a musket."

"So which weapon do I get to learn how to use first," Lily said as she eyed the musket with longing.

James noticed Lily's stare and said, "Certainly not with the musket." Lily's smile faltered slightly. "I don't know. Maybe I should start by teaching you to fight with your fists."

"How will that help me if my opponent has a sword."

"Lily, you're just learning defense here." James rolled his eyes.

"I know. What about the daggers. Can I learn to fight with them."

James eyes the daggers carefully. He placed his finger on his chin before saying, "Alright. Let me get you a dagger."

He went to his wall and took down a dagger. He handed it to her and pulled out his own.

"Now, the dagger is a very important weapon. Not only is it valuable when sailing as you can use it to cut ropes and such," at this he smiled at Lily, "but it is also used as a last means of defense when in combat."

Lily listened intently to James' speech. He began by teaching her how to properly hold the knife. Then he showed her how to stand and where the most common attacks are directed.

As the lesson progressed, Lily did not get to actually use the dagger to fight James, but in the two hours she was with him, she learned a lot. "Lily, we'll continue this tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure. Thank you, James," Lily said as she handed James back his dagger.

She left James' cabin and headed back to the infirmary where she would spend the rest of the day.

**A/N: Wow, that's the fastest update I have had in a while. I'm hoping to update often this week too, as I have Spring Break.**


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